Advances in technology have allowed consumers to access ever-increasing collections of media resources (such as television programs, movies, music, and so forth). For example, it is becoming increasingly feasible to stream media information over a digital network (such as a wide area TCP/IP network) to a collection of set-top boxes located in the homes of consumers. Using such a system, the consumers can browse through potentially vast collections of media resources using an electronic program guide (EPG). In addition, or alternatively, the consumers can browse through large collections of video-on-demand (VOD) media resources.
However, these advances also present challenges. For example, a consumer may be pleased to have such a large collection of media resources at his or her disposal. But consumers are now faced with the potentially difficult task of interrogating the database to locate desired media resources. Such interrogation is referred to as “resource discovery” herein. The difficulty may arise because the consumer may need to browse through a large number of media resources before finding a desired resource. These operations may be time-consuming and cumbersome, and may detract from the consumer's otherwise positive experience in interacting with the system.
Different systems adopt different approaches to allowing consumers to interrogate the contents of a database. Generally, television-related media resources may be organized using a hierarchical scheme. For example, FIG. 1A shows one technique for organizing such media resources. A top-level node of that hierarchy identifies an artist. The next level node defines various titles associated with this artist (such as various television programs that include the artist as a cast member). The next level node defines various seasons associated with the title. The next level node defines various episodes associated with a particular season. Other types of hierarchical organizations are possible. Thus, one approach to allowing a consumer to interrogate the contents of a database of TV programs is to adopt a hierarchical organization of media resources and allow the consumer to navigate through this hierarchical tree to find a desired resource. For example, one approach can present a user interface presentation which allows the consumer to select from a list of artists. Upon selecting an artist, another user interface presentation is presented, which allows the consumer to select from a list of titles associated with this artist. Upon selecting a title, another user interface presentation is presented, which allows the consumer to select from a plurality of available seasons. Upon selecting a season, another user interface presentation can be presented, which allows the consumer to select from a plurality of episodes.
However, this rigid approach to discovering assets may not apply well to some kinds of media resources. For example, as appreciated by the present inventors, a database may integrate different kinds of media resources together, and these resources may not all conform to the same kind of hierarchy. For example, consider the case in which a particular artist stars only in a handful of movies. It becomes rather artificial to ask the consumer to sequence through user interface pages directed to, say, season, when season is a category that does not apply to the movies. Further, as appreciated by the present inventors, a rigidly-applied discovery hierarchy may not be well suited for even some television programs. Consider, for example, the case in which a television program only lasts one season. The rigid approach to discovering resources may present a user interface presentation that only allows the consumer to select the single season, even though the consumer has no other options. As appreciated by the present inventors, this action therefore requires the consumer to perform a superfluous input operation.
FIG. 1B represents an alternative to the rigid hierarchical approach described above. In this approach, the system provides a relatively flat list of media resources associated with each artist. For example, the hypothetical artist Frank Adams appears in only one movie called Love in Paris. On the other hand, the hypothetical artist Julie Brown appears in numerous episodes of a sitcom called Monkey Biz!, as well as a movie called Spy Game. These entries are presented in a single list without differentiating the nature of each entry (e.g., whether the entry corresponds to an episode of a TV program or a movie). This technique may reduce the grouping of resources into artificial categories. However, the consumer may find it difficult to pick a desired resource from such an interface, as the consumer may be presented with a very long list that may be cumbersome to navigate within.
Accordingly, as appreciated by the present inventors, this is need for a more consumer-friendly and intelligent approach to discovering media resources.